Lee Came to the US from the UK looking to try BalanceWear. He had been deteriorating quite a bit the past few months and had great difficulty walking and has balance and mobility issues.

Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) is a rare, incurable disease whose cause is unknown. It currently affects up to .02% of the US population, equally likely to occur in men and women across all ethnic groups. The disease tends to cause initial symptoms in the patient’s 50s, and then rapidly worsens over the course of five to ten years – the patient usually needs the support of an assistive device such as a cane or a walker after only a few years. The earliest symptoms of MSA are similar to the earliest symptoms of Parkinson’s disease; both often begin with slowness of movement, tremor, stiffness, incoordination, and impaired speech. Consequently, it is often difficult to distinguish MSA from Parkinson’s in its early stages. However, unlike Parkinson’s, whose movement-limiting symptoms are caused by the death of nerve cells in a specific, small region of the brain called the substantia nigra, the symptoms of MSA can reflect the death of multiple types of nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Because of the variability in the types of cells that be affected within the MSA diagnosis, a patient’s symptoms generally are classified into one of two types: the parkinsonian type, with characteristics similar to Parkinson’s disease, and the cerebellar type, with characteristics including ataxia and loss of coordination. What both types have in common is a debilitating loss of mobility. Because there is no known cure for the underlying neurodegeneration of MSA, the focus of therapeutic care is on the improvement of the patient’s quality of life by slowing the loss of mobility.

Looks like Lee has new training wheels for the Holidays. We are wishing him the best of luck in his rehabilitation.

Sandra Jo Rampy has been an avid runner and athlete her whole life and has not let a diagnosis with MS stop her. When she was diagnosed in 2002 she began setting fitness goals for herself and never gave up on her body. Today she is Chief Encouragement Officer of the Rampy MS Research Foundation (http://researchms.org/ ), an organization run by Sandra Jo and her husband Scott. Part of what keeps Sandra Jo going is BalanceWear. BalanceWear has improved her balance and stability and she calls it a life changer. This week, for the first time in 6 years, Sandra Jo will be traveling and navigating a busy airport independently thanks to her new found stability and confidence using BalanceWear. Congratulations Sandra Jo! We hope you have a wonderful trip Below is a video of Sandra Jo taking a jog in her backyard. Before BalanceWear, she was unable to control her body while jogging and had difficulty coming to a stop. She now has a smoother gait and much more control. We are so happy to see her success! https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=884871554870422&set=vb.127437677280484&type=2&theater See how this activist is helping those with MS Website: http://researchms.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/researchms Twitter: @Research_MS

Many veteran’s have balance and mobility problems that could be helped with BalanceWear. It you know someone who had balance or vestibualr problems due to their time in the services they may be able to get BalanceWear at the VA-Tampa and Martinez.

People with balance problems often have difficulty turning. Rolynn suffers from Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia (SCA) which impairs her balance and coordination. Without treatment she experiences dizziness when turning as well as a feeling of disconnect and delay between her body’s movement and her vision. Her same day results using the BalanceWear Stabilizing Garment utilizing patented Balance-Based Torso-Weighting technology are incredible! She is able to turn in either direction an average of 16% more quickly and experiences less dizziness and loss of coordination.

Jose has Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a rare neurological disorder that impairs the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system. Patients with MSA often exhibit ataxia or poor coordination and difficulty walking. MSA shares many symptoms with Parkinson’s Disease, such as rigidity and tremor, but patients experience more widespread damage to their nervous system. Additional symptoms include changes in and/or inability to make facial expressions, dizziness, loss of fine motor skills and balance, loss of the ability to sweat, gait changes, posture difficulties, tremors, voice and vision changes.

Physicians often make a diagnosis based on a patient’s history of symptoms, physical examinations, and ruling out of alternate causes. There is no cure for MSA, and no known way of preventing the progression of the disease in general. The goal of treatment is to manage and control symptoms.

Treatment includes prescription drugs aimed at specific symptoms such as low blood pressure and tremors, and in some cases a pacemaker may be used to regulate a patients heart rate. Physical therapy is an essential part of MSA treatment as well to help patients maintain their mobility and to prevent contractures, falls, and to ensure the patient’s general safety.

When I met Jose he was walking with very small step length…2 inches with a walker. He was going to pain doctors for his neck and back. After testing his balance reactions we placed 1.5 pounds in his BalanceWear orthotic. Immediately his step length increased to 4-5 inch steps. I know that isn’t much but it doubled what he was able to do on the same day. I didn’t see him for a month. When I did his pain in the low back was gone. He is now walking with a cane or without one. He is able to perform many more activities of daily living.

It is not about just changing symptoms. It is about applying interventions that improve mobility, balance and confidence. He still needs therapy to address his neck, improve his stability, endurance and walking.

Well it has been a week or two and I have new updates on our friends with SCA 6. Rolynn left California feeling the best she had felt in years. Recently she moved and lost weight intentionally. The move left her completely exhausted. After the move she felt very unsteady again. When I saw her last she had improved….I had removed one pound from her vest leaving her with only 3/4 pounds. She replaced the weights into her vest where I had marked and this helped her ability again. She is flying to Austin to see me when I am down there and I will check her weights and placement.

Several things to think about. 1. When a patient becomes over fatigued they usually have decreased performance. ( I see this in our research all the time ) Please think about this ahead of time. When you feel tired pace your self. It may take several days to feel better again when you over do it. 2. The intentional loss of 10 pounds could change the balance of how I placed the weights depending on where she loss the weight. 3. When people change for the better or worse we may need to change the weight placement or amount.

Arlene – Rolynn’s mom has been going to therapy and continues to do well! Last week she walked backwards in her BalanceWear vest without any support!!! This is very difficult. She hasn’t been able to do this in years. BalanceWear+therapy+determination =performance!

Living Social and Chase has announced a Small Business Grant program that requires a minimum of 250 Facebook votes to be eligible for consideration. Motion Therapeutics, Inc. and our life-changing BalanceWear® therapeutic balance products is an ideal candidate. If you agree, it would be greatly appreciated if you would take a moment of your valuable time to vote for us.
After ten years of research and development BalanceWear is now available commercially for people who need balance stability. BalanceWear has helped numerous patients suffering from balance loss caused by neurologic and orthopedic disease and injury, regain their balance, independence and dignity.
Please visit http://www.motiontherapeutics.com to see same day patient balance correction videos utilizing our patented BBTW® counter-balancing technology and published peer reviewed clinical research to date. We are deeply committed to making BalanceWear available to all patients suffering from balance disorders. The funds made possible by this grant will accelerate our ability to train therapists and other healthcare professionals in the novel testing techniques and patient fitment of our therapeutic balance products.

This grant will also permit us to develop a social media platform to create awareness of this new product in both the medical community and with patients.

Exercise class

Exercise class

Causes of Balance and Mobility Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive autoimmune disease typically diagnosed in young adults, affecting the central nervous system causing damage to the myelin surrounding the nerves and lesions in the brain. Although the disease progresses differently in each person often gait and mobility problems are encountered. Individuals experience many different symptoms such as loss of sensation, visual or vestibular function, spasticity, weakness, central processing and motor output dysfunction. Any or all of the symptoms may contribute to a loss of balance leading to difficulty in walking.
If you experience balance problems you should see a physical therapist who is knowledgeable in treating patients with multiple sclerosis. Many people in my MS exercise class partially funded by the MSFoundation find they are able to do so much more than they thought they were capable of. When people get the diagnosis that they have a neurodegenerative disease and experience a relapse many do not rehabilitate back to where they started. With proper guidance many of them are experiencing recovery of function that they thought was unattainable.